This post has been updated.

It's the start of a new month, which means it's time to organize your coupons.

After you clip, sort and file, coupon shoppers are typically left with a pile of expired coupons and another stack of coupons that are still current but for products they'll never buy.

Before you toss them into your trash or recycle bins, consider shipping them to military families. Your efforts just might help the families of soldiers serving as nearby as Fort Bragg.

While the expired coupons can be used by military personnel shopping on bases overseas, your unwanted current coupons can be sent to soldiers and their families serving on bases in the United States.

The South Johnston High School athletic department will hold its annual Military Appreciation Day on Friday, March 23.
South Johnston honor all service men and women at their home games against Cleveland High School.  Active duty and retired military personnel will get free admission to the baseball, soccer, and softball games that day at South Johnston.
Junior varsity games in baseball and softball begin at 4. Varsity action in both of those games begins at 6.
The girls soccer match also begins at 6 p.m.

Cary software giant SAS has acquired a Maryland company that helps the intelligence community manage its increasing amounts of data.

The company, Vision Systems & Technology, is headquartered in Ellicott City.

VSTI was founded in 1997. The company's customers include the US Department of Defense, Navy, Air Force and the state of Maryland Consulting and Technical Services.

Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

SAS has been looking to expand the services it offers public security agencies.

Last month, the company acquired privately held Memex, a 110-employee company based in Glasgow, Scotland that makes software used to combat crime and terrorism.
 

Military veterans in North Carolina will receive job training under grants awarded today by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program.

In Raleigh, StepUp Ministry received a grant of $299,910, while in the western part of the state the Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry received a $200,000 grant.

In all, 97 grants totaling more than $24 million were awarded to help approximately 14,000 veterans.

Funds were awarded on a competitive basis to state and local workforce investment boards, local public agencies and nonprofit organizations, including faith-based and community organizations. 

The grant monies will be used for occupational, classroom and on-the-job training, as well as job search and placement assistance, including follow-up services.  The Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program is the only federal program that focuses exclusively on employment of veterans who are homeless.
 
For information on the StepUp Ministry, go here.

***UPDATE: It took awhile to put together the court, which consisted
of many panels of framed plywood and 2x4s, but after a few hours of
work - plus a minister's prayer and short speeches by two Tuskeegee
Airman who captured the attention of the dozens of young men and women,
including military personnnel - games of racquetball ensued under a
bright sun.

"We learned a lot," organizer Steven Harper said about
erecting the portable court on a parking lot with a less-than-level
surface. Harper hopes to find other venues to put up the court for free
demonstrations. *****

****

Triangle racquetball players, Steven Harper has a challenge: Try it
without the ceiling and the back wall – and in the great outdoors.

On March 20, the Clayton resident and retired Navy lieutenant commander
will provide the state’s first public demonstration of an outdoor
racquetball court provided through his organization, the Military Racquetball Federation.

The free clinic will take place 11 a.m.-4 p.m. at The Church @ Clayton Crossings, 11690 U.S. 70 in Clayton.

Their answer to the U.S. F-22 Raptor, Russia's stealth fighter takes it maiden flight. The aircraft could be lower cost alternative to other nations. You can geta glimpse of it in the video.

USA Today has a great story on retired generals and admirals being paid big bucks to mentor current generals and admirals. One wag called this triple dipping: the retirees are being paid for mentoring while collecting retirement and working for defense firms that work with or for the mentees.

I was particularly intrigued by this assertion: ""I lose money when I do it," McKissock says of serving as a mentor. He
was paid $166,500 plus expenses as a mentor in 2009, Marine records
show."

Military might was on display in Roxboro this morning.

Force Protection, which makes vehicles tough enough to withstand a roadside bomb, was showing the vehicles off at the official dedication of its recently opened training facility.

The facility, which has been in the works since 2007, opened about three months ago and now has 20 employees. Each week, they've been teaching about 60 U.S. and Canadian military personnel how to drive and maintain their $500,000 Cougar trucks and the $1 million Buffalo.